dkirkpatrick

Guessing this is an older blade given the non-metal saya and type of leather cover, looking forward to more pics! Doug

Clive, Sorry if that’s what came across. My point was simply that as first Nihonto purchases go this was a great 1st study piece and while he may find it difficult to realize trade or sale value relative to what he paid for it that it still has great value in what he will have learned from it. Many worse “first Nihonto” stories out there. Doug

Like Kirill said, many possibilities here and probably difficult to say without being see in hand. O-suriage swords like this may not be the best “investment” but when you buy solid in-polish examples they can be a great way to see hada and hamon activities that you will read about in your studying. Nice sword!

I’m sorry to say but I don’t believe this to be Japanese. The blade geometry and the tsuka -ito don’t look right nor does the fit of the fuchi. It’s possible this could be cobbled together somehow but I’m guessing the nakago will prove this to be non-nihonto. Hope I’m wrong. Doug

Ujifusa?

Write your signature 5 times. They will be slightly different but you’ll be able to see the commonalities among them (peaks, pen lifts etc). Have your SO or friend try to copy; it will look similar but at a glance to you not the same. Now take that eye and apply it to these and you may see what others are seeing.

200 is OK if the tsuba isnt brand new, need better pics. Looks like you have a decent kozuka blade and a complete tsuka. If you’re really interested in learning about nihonto I would be aggressive with uchiko and oil on the blade and see what you are able to see in the way of forging details (hada) and temper line( hamon). No monetary value but could give you some insight.

So no pictures? Just an update that ya found them? Good deal.

Looks like a nice gunome hamon. This would be a good blade to use uchiko on and look at in varying light to train your eyes to see sword potential when out of polish. Doug

Please do not attempt to remove any rust, use only light oil. Mei to my eye looks like could be shoshin but no books on me now to compare. Good luck! Doug

Has to be one of the more unarguably “Christian tsubas” I’ve seen!

Unrelatedly, that looks to be a very nice ivory miniature portrait you have there, origin? Doug

I agree with Christian, the spacing looks so off and the stilted rendering of the kanji that it seems clearly a gimei as opposed to another generation’s variant. Just my perception. Doug

It’s interesting the question of mei like these. We assume because a blade is a suriage that these are gimei added to fool and add value. It seems possible that rather than spending the time on an orikeshi or gaku mei they simply re-write on the new nakago. It’s strange that if mei in general were well-regarded than it’s strange that we find any mumei blades; you would think none would’ve escaped getting something added on at some point. Not really going anywhere with this just my random musings. Doug

Concur, almost certainly a Chinese fake, no need to remove handle. Doug

So hard to say as rust depth is so tricky to read from pictures. Values seem tricky as well; just saw a large Shin-Shinto Satsuma katana in decent mounts sell for 700$. Granted it was a very good deal but where does that put an item like this suriage wakizashi with rough koshirae? Hard to say

I see the hada you’re referencing but it all looks like pure hadori from this angle. Pointing at a lightbulb and sighting down the edge you should be able to discern whether there is an actual hamon.

The tachi is literally covered in kiri mon anyway. It would be weird if these places were blank when so many koshirae have lacquered mon in this location. I’m in the original camp.

That’s very unfortunate. Seems very hard to understand given all of the factors involved. Also unfortunate that there is no guidance given for the failure as it would shape decision to re-submit. Glad to hear you taking it well and again congratulations on saving something historically special from years of neglect.

The hada and the nioiguchi especially by the ha machi, make me think this sword is saiba. Hate to say that without seeing in hand but just my impression.

Firstly, try not to handle blade with bare hands, even if it needs to be polished anyway as finger print rust can go surprisingly deep. Translates to Hizen (no) Kuni Tadayoshi. I feel that this is gimei or fake at first blush because the large blackish shape of the Tadayoshi don’t apppear to resemble any known generation that I can see. Pictures can be very deceiving, try taking some a little more straight on with a little more light. Not sure it would change my mind but others may see something else. Good luck, Doug

As you may know condition is a relative thing in nihonto world; something that looks pretty beat up can be successfully (professionally) polished and conversely a sword that looks good at first blush is lost. No matter older dated pieces are still pretty cool, Good luck!

Interesting. I like the idea of giving a sword dignity but I feel it would be nice of that dignity could be preserved in a more forthright way. Is there any precedent for following larger ware with gold such as done with pottery repair? Perhaps this is silly in that it could present polishing challenges but was just curious. Doug

Numbers wrong, handle material wrong, clearly fake 100%

I wonder if maybe Choshu Tomonobu.